I See A Paradise
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day two hundred and twenty: Mike won't stand by while they insult her, and the whole school hears about what he does.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th cycle. Now cycle 11!_

_Doing a Mike/Brittany showcase, every other day for the next two weeks. **[5 of 7]**_  
_This whole series was inspired by a mix created by a very awesome and always kickass friend. Today's story was inspired by "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (The Starting Line)_

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**"I see a paradise"  
Mike/Brittany**

Mike wasn't a violent guy. He may have been on the football team, but that was on the field, and that made sense.

The word spread like wildfire through the school, fuelled by the passing gossip as it went by. By the time it reached Glee Club, it was as though it had taken on a life of its own, and good old Mike sounded like he'd done a lot more than what had actually happened, although they would not know this yet.

The pieces of the story, the ones they could definitely hang on to, would involve how he was now sitting in Figgins' office – or near it – having gotten into a fight with Azimio and Karofsky. Will had been informed of this, and as he looked back to his group, he saw two things: he saw his kids looking back at him, having obviously heard, and he saw Brittany get up, moving toward the door.

"Brittany, where are you going?" She paused and turned her head to look at him. She blinked.

"Bathroom," she went along, without waiting for an answer.

Mike had been made to sit outside Principal Figgins' office, while the other boys were in with the principal. He kept the ice pack on his eye as he looked back to the windowed walls, looking in to that conversation. Azimio and Karofsky were probably loving this, doing more damage for his case. He was sure Figgins wouldn't see it this way, but to Mike it was clear: They'd had it coming.

They were jerks and bullies, everyone knew that – they knew that, and Mike was sure they loved it. If they ever threw anything at him, he could just take it, roll with it… It was never anything he wasn't used to, as one of McKinley's jocks.

He drew the line at their target on that day though. He couldn't let it go this time.

They probably hadn't even seen him, as they all sat in the cafeteria, a few tables apart but well within earshot of one another. Mike was sitting there, just working to finish an assignment, when their conversation carried over.

"Did you see her today, she looked like she got spun around and let go," Azimio was laughing.

"Hey, she can spin right over here!" Karofsky replied. Mike wasn't looking, but judging from Azimio's reaction, Mike could imagine just where 'here' was. He could have just ignored it but then Azimio spoke up again.

"It's those cheeri-ho skirts, man… Geek Club? Forget that…" Mike frowned… Were they… He looked over his shoulder, and that got him to see the two of them miming… He looked back ahead, feeling offended even if they weren't talking about him.

Even though they were exaggerating in their gestures, the person as imitated was easy to recognize... Knowing now that it was Brittany, the previous things he'd heard now brought more anger to him. It wasn't right, not her… She didn't deserve this, and they didn't even know her… He wasn't going to get involved, there was no point in validating it.

But then they kept going, and it all just got worse. They went on talking about her, in ways that only increased how upset and livid he got. Little by little his reaction shifted from quiet but begrudging tolerance, to being just barely able to remain seated and uninvolved.

The one that finally threw him over the edge, he didn't even want to have heard once, let alone retain in memory. And the next thing he knew, even as he realized that those were big guys and might snap him in half, he was on his feet, rushing Karofsky, fist first. The element of surprise backed him up only so far until Azimio tried to get in there and get him off. Mike's one advantage was his moving ability, aided by figure and dance. He managed to get at Azimio too before Karofsky struck back… He didn't remember details after that, only that eventually the three of them were separated and promptly shipped to Figgins.

"Mike?" he heard the searching voice and turned, giving the ice pack a jostle, which made him wince, and allowed the searching voice to find him. He looked up again, finding it was Brittany.

"Hey…" he breathed out. She came to sit by him, observed him with some concern. She seemed concentrated on his face, half of which being covered by the ice.

"What happened to your face?" she asked. He could see her hands hesitating, like she wanted to touch. He removed the ice so she could see, and her eyes grew wide. She took the ice from him and returned it to his face. He groaned but then the ice settled and he breathed out.

"I had a… disagreement with Azimio and Karofsky," he explained.

"But they're big guys," she pointed out, and he hummed in response. She looked down at his hands, picked one of them up with her free hand, tested the marks and cuts left there with light touches of her thumb, for which he resisted from wincing, just looked at what she did. "Everyone's talking about it," she informed him.

"Does Schuester know?" he asked, and she nodded. He sighed. He'd have to answer to him, too.

But he looked at her, quietly holding an ice pack to his face and tending to his hand, and he'd just take whatever they threw at him… This was just about her, and doing what he had to do, for her sake. He didn't want her to know what the guys had said about her. It just wasn't right, he couldn't let them get away free.

Brittany stayed with him until it was his turn with Figgins. He thanked her… She didn't know what he was thanking her for, but she smiled and said he was welcome. He looked back at her once more, remembering all his reasons all over again.

THE END


End file.
